When he was poised between high school and university in the late 1950s, Jiro Hirano had a vague idea that in life he wanted to do "something international." He knew he didn't want to study at the University of Tokyo, as his father and brother and cousins had before him. "I wanted to have a way of my own," he said, quiet, steady and thoughtful.
He is known today as NHK's distinguished international journalist, one who does not waste words. When he decided against the University of Tokyo, Hirano entered International Christian University. That was still a young establishment then, emphasizing the use of English for Japanese students. Whilst not yet thinking seriously of his future, Hirano took his first step toward equipping himself to be able to do "something international" when the chance came.
On scholarship he went for one graduate year to Cornell University. That was at a time when, as business companies were interested in entering into joint ventures, opportunities were opening up for bright young Japanese students. The Cornell scholarship was one of those opportunities. Still only 23, Hirano came back to Japan not to immediate company employment but to the unique excitement of the Tokyo Olympic Games. He went to work in the public relations office of the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee. "I was in charge of foreign journalists, and acted as interpreter and guide for them," he said.